Carbon activated,

Activated carbon has long been used as an effective means of removing organics, chlorine, chlorates, other chlorine compounds and objectionable tastes and odors. The organics removed include pesticides, herbicides and industrial solvents for which activated carbon has diverse capacity. T ypically, carbon filters are operated at a flow rate of 1 -2 gpm/ft of activated carbon. 

Since chlorine is removed from water by the carbon, extra care is required from here on to protect against bioburden growth. Carbon beds themselves are good breeding grounds for bacteria. To keep the system in check, a recirculation system as depicted in Fig. 3 is recommended. The constant recirculation avoids water stagnation and reduces viable bioburden growth. 

Activated carbon is normally made by thermal decomposition of carbonaceous material followed by activation with steam or carbon dioxide at elevated temperature (700-1100 C). The activation process involves essentially the removal of tarry carbonization products formed during the pyroli.sis, thereby opening the pores. 

The surface of carbon is essentially nonpolar although a slight polarity may arise from surface oxidation. As a result, carbon adsorbents tend to be hydrophobic and organophilic. They are therefore widely used for the adsorption of organics in decolorizing sugar, water purification, and. solvent recovery systems as well as for the adsorption of gasoline vapors in automobiles and as 

TABLE 1.2. Pore Sizes in Tjpical Activated Carbons 

As a result of stricter environmental measures a 2 to 5% increase in production is expected in the next 5 years. 

Activated carbon production in 1990 in Western Europe, USA and Japan  

A wide range of organic products is suitable as feed.stocks for the manufacture of activated carbon. Wood, sawdust, peat, coconut shells and even olive stones are the preferred uncarbonized feedstocks. Of the (already) carbonized feedstocks coal, low temperature lignite coke, charcoal and coke from acid sludges (e.g. from the manufacture of lubricants) are utilized. The properties of activated carbon are very much influenced by the type of feedstock utilized. 

There are two fundamentally different processes for converting these feedstocks into activated carbon  

Chemical activation is generally carried out with uncarbonized feedstocks, gas activation generally with carbonized feedstocks. The aim of both processes is to convert the particular feedstock into a material with a high specific surface area (BET values between 400 and 2500 m /g) and the optimum pore size distribution for the required application. There are three types of pores  

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Adsorption. Adsorption involves the transfer of a component onto a solid surface. An example is the adsorption of organic vapors by activated carbon. Activated carbon is a highly porous form of carbon manufactured from a variety of carbonaceous raw materials such as coal or wood. The adsorbent may need to be... 

Adsorption. Some organics are not removed in biological systems operating under normal conditions. Removal of residual organics can be achieved by adsorption. Both activated carbon and synthetic resins are used. As described earlier under pretreatment methods, regeneration of the activated carbon in a furnace can cause carbon losses of perhaps 5 to 10 percent. 

This active carbon is considered to be produced through the reaction... 

The catalyst is also employed in the form of the finely-divided metal deposited upon activated carbon (usually containing 5 or 10 per cent. Pd) two methods of preparation are described, in one reduction is effected with alkaline formaldehyde solution and in the other with hydrogen ... 

C. Palladium on carbon catalyst (5 per cent. Pd). Suspend 41-5 g. of nitric acid - washed activated carbon in 600 ml. of water in a 2-litre beaker and heat to 80°. Add a solution of 4 1 g. of anhydrous palladium chloride (1) in 10 ml. of concentrated hydrochloric acid and 25 ml. of water (prepared as in A), followed by 4 ml. of 37 per cent, formaldehyde solution. Stir the suspension mechanically, render it alkaUne to litmus with 30 per cent, sodium hydroxide solution and continue the stirring for a further 5 minutes. Filter off the catalyst on a Buchner funnel, wash it ten times with 125 ml. portions of water, and dry and store as in B. The yield is 46 g. 

Any of the commercial forms of activated carbon (Norit, Darco, etc.) may be employed the carbon should be heated on a steam bath with 10 per cent, nitric acid for 2-3 hours, washed free from acid with water, and dried at 100-110° before use. 

Unsaturated nitriles are formed by the reaction of ethylene or propylene with Pd(CN)2[252]. The synthesis of unsaturated nitriles by a gas-phase reaction of alkenes. HCN, and oxygen was carried out by use of a Pd catalyst supported on active carbon. Acrylonitrile is formed from ethylene. Methacrylonitrile and crotononitrile are obtained from propylene[253]. Vinyl chloride is obtained in a high yield from ethylene and PdCl2 using highly polar solvents such as DMF. The reaction can be made catalytic by the use of chloranil[254]. 

For other adsorptives the experimental evidence, though less plentiful than with nitrogen, supports the view that at a given temperature the lower closure point is never situated below a critical relative pressure which is characteristic of the adsorptive. Thus, for benzene at 298 K Dubinin noted a value of 017 on active carbons, and on active charcoals Everett and Whitton found 0-19 other values, at 298 K, are 0-20 on alumina xerogel, 0-20-0-22 on titania xerogel and 017-0-20 on ammonium silicomolybdate. Carbon tetrachloride at 298 K gives indication of a minimum closure point at 0-20-0-25 on a number of solids including... 

Amount of benzene adsorbed at 20 C on carbon black and on active carbons at low pressures, relative to the amount adsorbed at p/p = 0-175... 

Fig. 4.6 Plat of the net differential heat of adsorption q — qj against the relative adsorption n/no.j, where H(,.2 is the adsorption at p/p° = 0-2. (A) active carbon (B) carbon black. (After Dubinin.)...

Fig. 4.17 Plot of log,o(n/(mmol g ) against logfo (p7p) for the adsorption of benzene at 20°C on a series of progressively activated carbons prepared from sucrose. (Courtesy Dubinin.)...

A major difficulty in testing the validity of predictions from the DR equation is that independent estimates of the relevant parameters—the total micropore volume and the pore size distribution—are so often lacking. However, Marsh and Rand compared the extrapolated value for from DR plots of CO2 on a series of activated carbons, with the micropore volume estimated by the pre-adsorption of nonane. They found that except in one case, the value from the DR plot was below, often much below, the nonane figure (Table 4.9). 

For a second active carbon, AG, the DR plot was convex to the logio(p7p) This carbon was believed from X-ray results to have a wider distribution of pores. It was found that the isotherms of both benzene and cyclohexane could be interpreted by postulating that the micropore system consisted of two sub-systems each with its own Wq and and with m = 2 ... 

Micropore structure parameters and S of the active carbon AG. (Standard... 

Fig. 5.14 Adsorption isotherms of water on carbon in (a) to f) with corresponding isotherms of nitrogen in (a), (c) and (J), and of benzene in (f>). (a) Charcoal (b) active carbon AY8 (c) charcoal A (J) charcoal (e) a coal tar pitch kilned at 1200°C (/) a charcoal (S600H). (Redrawn from the diagrams in the original papers.)...

Prior to determination of an isotherm, all physisorbed material has to be removed from the surface of the adsorbent. This is best achieved by exposure of the surface to high vacuum, the exact conditions required (temperature and residual pressure) being dependent on the particular gas-solid system. In routine determinations of surface area it is generally advisable not to remove any chemisorbed species which may be present thus, the hydroxylated oxides are usually outgassed at 1S0°C. Microporous adsorbents such as zeolites or active carbons however require higher temperatures (350-400 C, say) for complete removal of physisorbed material from their narrowest pores. An outgassing period of 6-10 hours (e.g. overnight) is usually sufficient to reduce the residual pressure to 10 Torr. 

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